Chivas USA closed out Week 9 in Major League Soccer a man down for the third consecutive week as they fell 4-1 to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night at the StubHub Center. The Red-and-White seemed to find their rhythm in the starting minutes of the game with Erick “Cubo” Torres’ fourth goal of the season from the penalty spot (seventh overall). However, three consecutive goals by the visitors sent the Goats into halftime trailing 3-1.

According to Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera in his postgame press conference, the early goal was “the worst [thing] that happened to us.” It was only the seventh minute of the game when Torres put the Goats ahead on the scoreboard, marking that moment as the beginning of the downfall.

“Then we started just to walk, we didn’t even put pressure on them, we didn’t figure it out, and it was a wake-up for Houston and they reacted very well, and they showed character and personality, and we didn’t,” explained the tactician, who also blamed himself for how casual his players took the field in the first half.

In an attempt to try and change the pace of the game, the Red-and-White leader made two changes to start the second half, allowing midfielder Martin Rivero to make his Chivas debut and at the same time allow minutes to forward Luke Moore. Despite the six attempts on goal by Chivas in the second half, it was the Dynamo who found the back of the net once again when in the 67th minute, Tim Melia took down Will Bruin inside the box and referee Sorin Stoica called a straight red card and a penalty kick in favor of the visitors.

“Second half we kind of reacted very well. At 3-1, we reacted very well until the red card, and the red card is a mistake. Bobby [Burling] couldn’t clear the ball, couldn’t pass, and led the ball over there and now again with 10 men,” continued Cabrera.

However, neither the card nor the ejection can be attributed for the loss. According to Cabrera, it’s the team who “today [has] to apologize to our fans because…you can win, lose or tie, but in soccer you have to show personality and character, and today the players in the first half lacked that, and it’s disappointing.”

With a week ahead of them to prepare for back-to-back road games, it’s time for Cabrera to regroup his Goats and look to the future. The head coach returns to face the Colorado Rapids, his former club before joining the Red-and-White, which will make next weekend’s match a challenge where pride is at stake.

“We have to rebound, we have to talk and we have to learn those lessons, especially at home that we have to now prepare the game with a better mentality against Colorado Rapids,” concluded Cabrera.